Sid Caesar

Son of a Yonkers restaurant-owner, Sid Caesar learned first-hand the variety of dialects and accents he would later be known to mimic as a comedian. During World War II, Caesar was assigned as a musician in the Coast Guard, taking part in the service show “Tars and Spars,” where producer Max Liebman overheard him improvising comedy routines among the band members, and switched him over to comedy. Caesar went on to perform his “war” routine in the stage and movie versions of the review, and continued in Liebman’s guidance after the war, appearing in film, television, and on stage. Caesar, notorious for his deviations from the script, was skilled at mime, dialects, monologues, foreign language double-talk, and general comic acting.